Dear FACC Members,

First, an apology for this news-

letter being so late. Our Newslet-

ter Editor, Deborah Martinez

Martinez, is not able to do this

job any longer and I am assum-

ing this role once again. I have

been quite busy with life includ-

ing my other responsibilities as

FACC President. I want to thank

Deborah for contributing while

she could and we all wish her

well in her recovery.

We have heard back from

Spencer Little, Director of Heri-

tage Museum, that we will be

getting a new floor and bookcase

in our meeting room. He is ask-

ing for help in moving furniture

in and out during remodeling.

The new exhibit by FACC at

Pueblo Heritage Museum entitled

“Some Descendents of Francisco

Montez Vigil” is now complete

and open to the public.

I want to thank George Auto-

bee, Claudine Riccillo and Caro-

lyn Cordova for their wonderful presen-

tations this past second quarter.

Many of our members went to Ft. Gar-

land Museum to listen to Virginia San-

chez make her presentation on the

“Espinoza Brothers” and came away

with a new understanding of this history.

As always, FACC continues to move

forward. We have lots planned for the

months of July, August and September.

Remember that todos somos primos!

Un Abrazo Fuerte,

Carmen Arteaga, FACC President

Bill Trujillo: the Man Behind the Scenes

A young man, a freshman at Central High School, was searching at

McClelland Library (before Rawlings) for information of his father whom he

didn’t know much about except that he had died in a car accident. That

young man was Bill Trujillo. He and his brother Larry had the good fortune

to be at the library and meet Betty Pacheco who was a member of FACC at

the time. She helped Bill and his brother who has now passed away with her

skills in genealogy research. He credits her for turning him on to genealogy

President’s Message Speakers

July 13 Tom Martinez & Char lene Garcia Simms

Aug. 11 FACC Annual Picnic

City Park Gazebo

noon - 3 pm Sept. 14 Lynda Kouba

*********************

FACC Meetings

8:30-10 am — Library/research

10-11 am — Meeting

11-12 pm — Speaker Location-

Pueblo Heritage Museum

201 West B St, Pueblo, CO

BOD Meetings

First Tues. of the Month 3:30 pm at Heritage Museum

Research

First Tues. of the Month 11-3 pm at Heritage Museum

*********************

President — Carmen Arteaga 719-671-4921

carmen.arteaga@hotmail.com

Vice-President —John Valdez Secretary — Lynda Kouba

Treasurer —Bob Craig

Members-at-large

Carolyn Cordova Tom Martinez

Kathy Pacheco

Ron Sandoval GSHA Representative

Jessica Tidball

********************

Newsletter Editor: Carmen Arteaga

Please call, text or email with

questions or new stories.

FACC Newsletter F R A Y A N G E L I C O C H A V E Z C H A P T E R , P U E B L O , C O

Genealogical Society of Hispanic America June 30, 2019 Volume 26, Issue 2

Page 2 FACC Newsletter

Bill Trujillo (Continued)

and reconnecting with his Trujillo side of the family. Bill went on to

graduate from college at USC in Pueblo in 1978 with a BA in Art Edu-

cation. He loves water color, sketching and drawing. He received his

MA in Southwest Studies at UCCS in Co. Spgs. Retiring after 32 years

of teaching, Bill also accepted the role of surrogate parent for his sister,

Pearl Gutierrez whom we all know and love dearly.

In 1991, Bill became a member of FACC and in 2002 he became part

of the Exhibit Committee which included himself, Ruben/Joan

Archuleta, Tom Cummins, Pearl Gutierrez and Betty Duran and they

created the first Hispanic Genealogy Exhibits at the Pueblo Heritage

Museum. Bill has been the common thread in all our FACC exhibits.

The following is a list of families that have been displayed to date:

MARTINEZ (Wilfred Martinez) 2002

ARCHULETA (Ruben Archuleta) 2003

WEST WING—NUESTRAS FAMILIAS

ARCHULETA (Reggie Archuleta) Nov 2004 to Aug 2005

PARTIDA (Victoria Partida Arellano) Aug 2005 to Nov 2005

VALLEJO (Janice Martinez) Nov 2005 to Aug 2006

TRUJILLO (Bill Trujillo) Aug 2006 to Aug 2010

PENITENTE EXHIBIT (Ruben Archuleta) Aug 2006 to April 2007

VIGIL (Robert Eloy Vigil and wife Esther) Aug 2010 to Aug 2012

VIGIL (Robert David Vigil and wife Stella) Aug 2010 to Aug 2012

COCA (Edna Vargas and Ruth Martinez) Aug 2012 to July 2015

THE FRENCH CONNECTION (Autobee, Charlifue, Gurule, Large,

and LeFebre) Aug 2015 to July 2019 *Charlifue-Ernie/Dolores

Charlifue; Autobee-George Autobee; Gurule-Teresa Maestas;

LeFebre-Christina LeFebre; Large-Joe Martinez

SOME DESCENDANTS OF FRANCISCO MONTEZ VIGIL

(Carmen Arteaga, Kathy Pacheco, Claudine Riccillo, Ron Sandoval, and Fidel Platero Vigil) July 2019 to _________

FACC FALL FESTIVAL FUNDRAISER

Cripple Creek Bus $25

September 28, 2019 (Saturday)

8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Meet at Kmart on Northside

Join Us For “Research”

Every First Tuesday

of the Month at Heritage Museum

11 am - 3 pm

Heritage Museum

Bill Trujillo

Bill taking down

the French Con-

nection Exhibit.

FACC Newletter Page 3

Treasurer’s Report

Submitted by Bob Craig

June 1, 2019 - June 30, 2019

Account Balances

Operating $2,908.76

Raffle 8.20

Savings 5,494.79

Total $8,411.75

BOOK REVIEW: By Deborah Martinez Martinez

Land Grants & Lawsuits in Northern New Mexico by Malcolm Ebright.

Published by Center for Land Grant Studies Press, Santa Fe, NM, 2008.

Malcolm Ebright is one of the leading scholars on the NM land grants

but you’d never know it by his story-like writing mode. He is an attorney

-turned-historian and he follows the money trail through the sordid sto-

ries of loss and displacement, frustration and disbelief.

This is a collection of essays written in an engaging style. The reader is

led through the maze of government officials, mayordomos, judges, al-

caldes and lawyers. He gives names of the grants and the petitioners, and

educates on, not only the lawsuits and litigants, but also reviews the cus-

toms in Hispanic NM (Chapter 2) which are paramount in understanding

the lack of justice. He provides an overview of the NM legal system dur-

ing the Spanish and Mexican administrations before he moves on to the American administration.

In Chapter 3, Ebright reviews the 1832 litigation regarding Abiquiu, NM. Using the Mexican Archives of NM,

he illuminates some of the Tierra Amarilla Grant. By 1786, the title papers given to the original grantees were

torn and tattered. However, no official notaries (escribanos) were appointed to this area of NM, so José Campo

Redondo, a grantee, copied the document and certified the copies as exact. Usually the village alcalde did the

task, but there was no one nearby to do so.

It is this type of copied document that the U.S government failed to acknowledge as legitimate although it was

part of both Mexican and Spanish law to copy legal documents in this manner. It is Ebright’s attention to his-

torical details, like mentioning the documents were originally written on processed lamb’s skins called velum,

that puts a descendent right in the era.

Large land grants, including may small parcels, were lost because the Mexican

legal documentation did not match the American expectations.

The main reason I recommend this book is the readability. Open any chapter

and you will be caught up in the action, mystery and suspense. Whoever

thought a reader could get this much entertainment in a scholarly book on land

grants? If you find it for $20, buy it. It’s value is closer to $50 and the books are

unavailable in on-line used bookstores.

The notes, index, and selected bibliography are excellent. Many of the modern

researchers encountered in other research are referenced. Ebright is well-seated.

Enjoy

FACC Annual Picnic - August 11, 2019 - Sunday

City Park Gazebo - Noon to 3 pm

REGISTER NOW !!!!!

The Espinoza Brothers

By Virginia Sanchez

On May 23rd, many FACC members attended a presentation by Virginia Sanchez at the Ft. Garland Museum.

She shared her research and we all learned a much different perspective on this legendary folktale. During this

time in Conejos, 1861-1863, 7000 Hispanos became part of Colorado. Barela and Garcia were representatives

from the San Luis Valley. Legislation was passed which increased taxes for everyone. Indios/Hispanos lost

land because they had no papers. Ft. Garland soldiers were on the lookout for Utes. Lafayette was agent in

186l and the Indios/Hispanos were not happy with him. Newspapers were notorious being written in English

by English Correspondents. Stories in these newspapers were exaggerated so that they would sell. Truth was

not an important consideration. No Spanish newspapers survived. There was lots of lawlessness and the coun-

try was in Civil War. Virginia brought to the attention of her audience the many myths surrounding this issue.

She mentioned that miners used kangaroo courts. There was mob violence and torcher was used to coerce

thieves into pleading guilty of crimes they did not commit. She believes that the Espinosas were a case of mis-

taken identity. Dolores Sanchez was supposedly raped by the Espinosa Brothers but no one knew who she

was. Lastly, the Espinosas were beheaded by McCannon’s posse and Tom Tobin. Many ancestors of the

Espinosa Brothers from near and far attended this presentation.

FACC website:

https://www.facc-genealogy.weebly.com

FACC Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/faccgsha

GSHA website:

https://www.gshaa.org